Meet Justine - CEO and founder of
Kids Go Co., a company based in Bainbridge Island, Washington that creates high quality, innovative products that increase moments of peace, calm, and structure for busy families.
Justine is also one of the three winners of our $10K Merchant Makeover Contest for small businesses. In addition to the ten thousand dollar cash prize, PayPal is teaming up with Shopify to help her deliver a five-star shopping experience to Kids Go Co. customers.
One area Justine is being proactive about is her online checkout - and we’ve tapped Vu Tang, a checkout expert from
PayPal, to help out. Vu has been part of the PayPal family for the past seven years, advising countless small businesses on how they can grow their sales online by offering simple, yet effective ways to optimize their website’s checkout flow.
Here are seven of Vu’s recommendations for Kids Go Co. that you may even be able to apply to your own site:
Homepage:
1. One thing that helps small businesses convert more sales is getting customers to the checkout page fast. One way you can accelerate that journey is by giving customers quick access to the checkout page – like adding a ‘View Cart’ icon in the navigation.
2. Many people who land on your site already know what they want, and, in many cases, they want an item in high demand. Highlight your popular items by adding a ‘Most Popular’ section on your homepage that links right to your checkout page.
3. First-time buyers on your website may approach their purchase with caution if they haven’t ever purchased from your business before. One thing that could help alleviate that apprehension is adding the logos of recognizable payment methods you accept, like PayPal and credit card companies. It helps customers feel that checkout is secure.
Product Page Recommendations:
4. Compared to in-person shopping where you get a chance to physically pick up, touch, and examine the product, online shopping relies on imagery and word descriptions to instill that same buying confidence. Make sure product images are large enough, or provide a zoom in option, and provide detailed product descriptions so customers feel confident about making the purchase.
Shopping Cart Page Recommendations:
5. Make your checkout button the most prominent call to action on the page. We also recommend adding the
PayPal Express Checkout button, so customers can check out securely, without needing to enter their billing and shipping details.
6. Give customers an added incentive to complete their purchase by offering promotions and additional payment options. Free shipping is a common promotion that customers love. You can also show your customers they have additional ways to pay. For instance, you can add a
PayPal Credit[1] button to your checkout, which shows your customers they can get more time to pay for their purchases.
Checkout Page Recommendations:
7. Minimize the number of fields a customer needs to fill out. Justine does a great job of this – she only asks for basic billing and contact information to help customers complete their purchase faster.
Check off these seven tips and you can make great progress on helping customers complete their purchases instead of abandoning their carts.
[1]PayPal Credit is subject to consumer credit approval, as determined by the lender, Comenity Capital Bank.